Youth focus of book fair
New Brighton poet and author Mxolisi Nyezwa made an impassioned plea for children to read more isiXhosa literature at the launch of the Mandela Bay Book Fair (MBFF) on Friday at the Opera House. Nyezwa, who also lectures in Rhodes University’s MA programme in Creative Writing in Grahamstown, has been involved with the book fair since it started six years ago in his home city of Port Elizabeth. This year it will run on Friday and Saturday March 23 and 24, at the Opera House in Whites Road. “The event aims to create the necessary infrastructure to support young South African writers practising in local languages, especially isiXhosa in the Eastern Cape,” Nyezwa said. He also hopes the MBFF will bring back a “focus on books and on reading for entertainment and leisure” and this year’s programme seeks to inspire children’s literature and reading for children under the theme “Reading for the tortoise”. “It has a special theme for the young people of the Bay,” he said, mentioning how his love for the written word had developed in the turbulent apartheid days. “Mzi Mahola inspired me – when I was a child at Ithembilihle in the ’80s, and there were disruptions due to the school boycotts, some of us got to see and read his books.
“Then something inside starts to make sense – in a world where you are confused, things take shape,” Nyezwa said. The fair starts with an address on “Creative Writing as an Industry” by Dr Zoliswa Matshoba of Nelson Mandela University, followed by Zongezile Matshoba from the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, and Dr Hleze Kunju, who is also a lecturer in the Rhodes Creative Writing programme. Many activities are tailored for children and school pupils from Uitenhage, Motherwell and the inner city are due to attend. Actress and children’s book writer Charmaine Mrwebi will present a play of popular fairytales and African iintsomis (folktales) on Friday, and the first day’s programme closes with a talk and book launch by Cape Town filmmaker, photographer, writer and comic producer Ziyaad Rahman. On Saturday, a young authors’ programme will feature readings, performances by MCs and poets, new writing in isiXhosa, book launches and more. For example, poet Vincent Oliphant will present an English and Afrikaans writing workshop, and Port Elizabeth artist Dolla Sapeta, who also is arts director of the Arts Foundation South Africa, will speak. The fair is open from 9am to 6pm and is free. The programme will be available on the Opera House Facebook page, or for further information, contact the Opera House on (041) 585-1300.
